Do Chows have oil glands on middle of back?

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chowmom
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Do Chows have oil glands on middle of back?

Post by chowmom »

I just fininshed bathing and grooming, as best I could, one of my Chows. He is a cream Chow and from the beginning (he is a rescue from Alabama) he has had the most awful oil patch on his back. The women we adopted him from who is a rescuer thought he had been getting under her pool house and getting his back oily. We have had him three years now and we always try to pay special attention to that area but I finally had to cut the hair way down to get to the area. It is so oily I wonder is there anything I can do for him or a medication to give him so this area won't be so bad. I notice that the hair on his back is a completely different texture than the other hair. It is coarser and when I brush him my hands get so gooey, even soap won't get it off my hands. Has anyone else ever come across this problem with their Chows. I have other Chows and they don't have this problem. I am stumped. I need to take care of this so he can be a cleaner happier boy.
I tried looking through all the posts about this and found nothing.
Thanks,
Margaret
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sit_by_the_beach
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Re: Do Chows have oil glands on middle of back?

Post by sit_by_the_beach »

I groomed my chow earlier this morning. I noticed that she has an oily area along her spine. It goes from her shoulders to almost where the tail starts. It's about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. I brush her legs, tummy, tail first. The oily area along the spine I do last because my fingers get greasy. The hairs along the spine are shiny, coarse and it appears to be one coat only, not two coated like the rest of the chow. I may use some waterless shampoo and apply it along the back.
My first chow didn't have that much oil in that area.
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Re: Do Chows have oil glands on middle of back?

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Mikki finally we see your cute nose!
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WildThings
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Re: Do Chows have oil glands on middle of back?

Post by WildThings »

It sounds like your chow could have Seborrhoea Oleosa. There are two kinds of seborrhoea that dogs can devolope, one makes the skin very dry and flaky, the other makes the skin very oily. With the oily condition, the body overproduces sebum the oil naturally produced by the body to keep the skin healthy. Seborrheoa can be caused by many things, but most often a yeast overgrowth, fungi, or bacterial infection is the main cause. Make sure you are feeding a food that is free of corn, wheat, and by-products which will help fix the problem from the inside. You might also want to add some fish oil. While it may seem like you don't want to add anymore greasy than there already is, the fish oil adds esstential fatty acids that can help balance skin issues. I used to have a cat with seborrhoea oleosa. She was extremely greasy all the time. We switched her food to a high quality cat food that was corn, wheat, by-product, chicken and beef free (not easy to find for cats). While we were waiting on the food to help, because it can take a month or two, we would mix up a solution of Bragg's apple cider vinegar (or any other raw, unfiltered, all-natural, organic apple cider vinegar) with some water...usually a tablespoon of vinegar to about 3/4 a cup of water, then used a cotton ball soaked in the solution to rub over the oil patches. It helped to dry up the excess oil without over drying her skin and helped because with hers she was very itchy. This was done twice a dayand took care of the greasiness. There are also some shampoos specifically for seborrhoea oleosa, but you have to be careful not to overbath. The skin can sometimes produce even more oilwhen you over bath, kind of an oil production panic mode.

Here's a brief overview of seborrhoea oleosa
http://www.isabellevets.co.uk/health_ad ... oeadog.htm
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Re: Do Chows have oil glands on middle of back?

Post by Red Dragon »

Some have the oily patch you are talking about and some don't. It is usually in the middle of the back right at the shoulder blades. When you give them a bath you can use some Dawn dishwashing detergent on it, work it in real good and take a comb and comb through it good, then rinse it out real well. Then wash the rest of the dog with the regular shampoo, including the area that was greasy. It helps alot to keep that combed out real well, otherwise it can become a serious mess with dirt and undercoat getting compacted.
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